Caddigan to run again for county board seat

by Keith Walker
Published 6/8/2011 in the News & Messenger

Prince William Vice Chairman Maureen S. Caddigan likes her job so much, she's going to try and keep it.

She is running for re-election to the Dumfries/Potomac District seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

Caddigan, a Republican who was first elected to the board in 1991, said she believes she has made a difference.

She is proud of her part in bringing the National Museum of the Marine Corps and Heritage Center to the Triangle area and bringing Pope John Paul the Great High School to the Cherry Hill Peninsula. "My support for the National Museum of the Marine Corps continues to be unwavering," she said. She said she was also pleased that the widening of U.S. 1 between Joplin and Brady's Hill roads is moving along and is scheduled to be completed next spring.

Caddigan sits on the county's Quantico Growth Management Committee, which shadows the Base Realignment and Closure process, and would like to see U.S. 1 widened from Joplin Road south to Telegraph Road in Stafford County.

She said the widening would ease the traffic congestion that is likely to arise when 6,000 civilian employees are reassigned to Quantico Marine Corps base.

She counts the upcoming construction of a new regional library in Montclair as one of her accomplishments for the district.

"We are looking at 2014 for its completion," the Montclair resident said.

Caddigan said she is also working with a developer to bring a new assisted living facility to Van Buren Road.

Caddigan, who served seven years on the Prince William County School Board before being elected to the county board, said she is probably the board's biggest education advocate.

"Education is our economic development and the kids are our future. I have always - since I left the school board - been the biggest proponent on the board for education," said Caddigan, who has lived in Prince William County since 1969.

With the recent redistricting, Harbor Station was added to Caddigan's district.

She said she has been working with the county's economic development department to bring more businesses into her district and sees Harbor Station as the center of future development.

"I'd like to see more work being done and more marketing on the eastern end of the county," she said. "I want to market the Cherry Hill Peninsula."

Caddigan, who said she has made public safety one of her top priorities, claims credit, along with Prince William Chairman Corey A. Stewart, for moving the board to budget for new police officers this year rather than waiting another year.

"In the budget this year, there were no new police officers. The chairman and I sat down and worked with our board to get 17 police officers," said Caddigan, who serves on the Virginia Association of Counties and is a commissioner of the Potomac Rappahannock Transportation Commission.

For all of her accomplishments, Caddigan gave credit to her peers.

"I have a good working relationship with our board and my efforts could not be realized without their support," she said.

Caddigan has also served as chairman of the Virginia Railway Express and a member of the board of directors of the Prince William County Boys and Girls Club, as well as the Prince William County Audit Committee.